Honor Duty
by AZGirl
Summary: It's an honor and a privilege to do his duty on the commemoration of this historic day.


**Title**: Honor Duty

**Summary**: It's an honor and a privilege to do his duty on the commemoration of this historic day.

**Disclaimer**: Hawaii Five-0 is not mine. I'm just borrowing the concepts and characters for a little while.

**Spoilers**: Blink and you miss it reference to 2.10 Ki'ilua.

**A/N**: This was inspired by the day and a couple of articles I read.

A busy day today so I had to rush to get this done. I apologize for any remaining mistakes…

ooooooo

He'd received his orders a couple of weeks before he'd gone to North Korea. And just a few days ago, in light of what had happened there, his superiors had called to make sure he was fit to perform his duty. Thankfully he had recovered from his ordeal overseas by this time, but then again there had been no way he would have missed this assignment.

For some reason though, he hadn't yet told his team about being called up. He was only required to be on duty for a few hours for only two days this week but he couldn't bring himself to tell them anything beyond the fact that he'd be late on Tuesday morning and had to leave early on Wednesday afternoon. He'd still be available for the important task that Five-0 had been assigned to perform on Wednesday morning.

He'd been told that he'd been chosen not only because of his service record but also due to his family connection to the day. It wasn't too much of a stretch to think that both the Navy and Governor Denning would also turn the situation into some good publicity for themselves. At first he'd been annoyed about being used like that, but after some thought, he decided he didn't care. The opportunity for him to get so close to his family history might not ever come up again.

Being assigned overseas for so long prior to his return to Hawai'i and heading Five-0, he'd missed out on too many of the commemorative ceremonies. Now that he was back to stay on the Islands he didn't plan on missing out on one ever again if he could help it. And, if he hadn't been called to complete this particular assignment or had to provide security for the governor on the day, he might have asked his 'ohana to join him at the ceremony.

ooooooo

They'd managed to wrap up their current case on Monday and he'd been informed by the governor's office that they wouldn't be called out for another case until Thursday (barring a state or national emergency) so that Steve would be free to attend to his duties and leave when necessary.

Eventually he had told his team that he was required to be on base on Tuesday morning and Wednesday afternoon – not exactly a lie since he still had to go to a debriefing about his assignment, meet his team, and gear up on both days. He still kept what exactly he was going to be doing from them and that the Governor wouldn't be calling them out for cases. His team was used to him not being able to tell them anything about his work due its usual classified status, so they hadn't asked him any questions other than to request more information about how long he'd be gone. Besides, his team was smart and once they saw the news, they'd figure it out pretty quickly.

What he couldn't figure out though was why he'd didn't seem able to be able to tell anyone what he was going to be doing – not even Danny. It wasn't a classified mission and he _could_ tell his 'ohana, but he'd remained silent about it. The only answer he had come up with time and again was that this wasn't about him; it was about all those who had lost their lives seven decades ago.

ooooooo

Tuesday morning's dive had gone off without a hitch. He and three other support divers had gone underwater to place the urn containing the remains of Lee Soucy on the USS _Utah_. Another of his fellow teammates for this mission had the honor of holding the urn above the water as they'd headed towards the _Utah_ – his turn would come tomorrow. They'd all dived down once they'd reached the ship, and had saluted as best they could in the while under water as Lt. Brooks had deposited the urn in one of the _Utah_'s portholes.

This was only one of five memorials this week for servicemen who had lived through the assault and wanted their remains to be reunited with their fellow shipmates. Only the remains of those who had served on the _Utah_ or the _Arizona_, two of the twelve ships that had gone down that day, were allowed to be interred on their respective vessels. But other survivors' ashes were often scattered nearby so they could be with their fallen friends once more.

He'd only been a couple of hours late to work that morning and they'd spent the day doing paperwork and other catch-up tasks they often didn't have time to do. When he'd arrived, he'd been asked how things had gone. He'd told them, 'mission accomplished,' and had headed towards his office where he'd spent the majority of his day.

Danny had tried a couple of times to draw him out of his office and out of the funk he'd fallen into, but it was no use. His next day's duty was determined to weigh heavily on his mind.

ooooooo

The next morning, December 7, Five-0 was required to be at the commemorative ceremony as a high-profile protection detail for the Governor. During the moment of silence at 7:55 AM, exactly seventy years after the beginning of the attack, his thoughts had naturally turned toward his grandfather, the man he'd been named after. A man he'd obviously never met, but that both his father and he had followed after his footsteps to serve in the Navy.

Those thoughts soon turned to memories of the stories his father had told him about the 'original' Steven McGarrett. From there however, his thoughts had betrayed him and he'd begun thinking about all the losses he'd endured throughout his life and everything related to his investigation of Wo Fat.

He'd been so deep in his thoughts that he'd missed a few moments of the ceremony once the moment of silence was over. Surreptitiously checking to see if anyone had noticed his lapse in concentration, his eyes met those of his concerned partner. Immediately he'd known that he and Danny were going to be having a talk sometime soon about all of this and what was bothering him.

Thankfully none of the reporters or organizers of the event had confronted him with the fact that he was a descendent of a sailor who had been killed on the _Arizona_ or that he was to be a part of the internment ceremony at sunset. He suspected though that it would get mentioned at some point in one of the multitude of stories about the anniversary of that fateful day. He had a high profile job and a familial connection to the day. There was no doubt that something would be said sooner or later.

After the ceremony, the team had taken the time to go get breakfast. He'd not been that hungry, but one backhanded slap to his upper arm and a worried 'Steven' from Danny had encouraged him to eat a little bit of something.

Once back at the office, the team had continued any unfinished tasks from the previous day. And surprisingly Danny did not confront him about what had happened earlier and his recent mood. He was grateful for that, but he was also kind of dreading that talk with Danny later tonight.

ooooooo

He'd left the office at 2:30 PM that afternoon. His dive team had geared up and been at the USS _Arizona_ in plenty of time for the sunset ceremony. Today it was his turn to hold aloft the urn until they were in position to dive.

As he and the others dove, the stories about his grandfather and about the attack came to mind once again. Upon reaching the designated gun turret, he gently placed the remains of Vernon Olsen inside. As he'd watched them slowly sink, he'd saluted them as was right and proper.

He then had turned a little and saluted the part of the ship his grandfather had usually been assigned to duty. There was no guarantee it was where he had died, but in his mind it was close enough.

When he'd finally turned to rejoin Brooks and the other two support divers, he'd been blown away to see that they were just finishing their salute to the same area of the ship. Extremely honored by their action, he gave the men the only sign of gratitude he could at the moment – a 'thumbs up' sign – and they'd headed back towards the surface.

He would take these guys, who he'd only met yesterday, out for a beer as a thanks. They were in no way obligated to do what they'd done, but they obviously knew the reason he'd been chosen for this duty and had followed his lead in honoring his grandfather the only way he could at that time and in that place.

He'd like to think that, had his father still been alive, that he would've bought the second round of beers for his temporary teammates. He also liked to think his father would have been proud of him for being chosen for this honor (regardless of the real reason behind it) and jealous of the opportunity to visit up close that slowly deteriorating, watery grave.

ooooooo

Head full of thoughts about the last couple of days and of his family, he didn't notice right away the figure leaning against his truck until he was within twenty feet of it. He should have been surprised to see Danny there, but he wasn't.

His best friend knew him too well and had probably known some of what was going on with him from the beginning.

"Hey," he said as an opener, curious to know whether or not Danny was going to yell at him for keeping quiet about his honor duty.

"Hey," Danny replies calmly. He then lifts a hand and waves it between the two of them. "So why didn't you tell me or anyone else what you were going to be doing yesterday and today?"

Amazed that his friend and partner wasn't ranting at him, Steve almost didn't remember to answer, "Because, Danny, today and yesterday wasn't about me, it was about Lee Soucy and Vernon Olsen."

"And your grandfather," Danny states without any doubt in his voice.

The SEAL nods and confirms, "Yes. Seventy years ago, nearly 3,000 lost their lives – including my grandfather –in the attack on Pearl Harbor. These last couple of days, it was my honor and privilege to help those men be with their shipmates once more. It also gave me probably the only opportunity to get that close to my grandfather." By the end of my reply, I had noticed that my voice had gained more emotion than I'd intended for it to have.

The ex-Jersey detective held up his hands in surrender, "I'm sorry, babe. You gonna be okay?"

"I will be."

"Wanna go get some beers? Maybe dinner?" Danny asks.

"Can't. I'm taking the other three divers out for a beer right now. Want to come along?"

"No, thanks. You go be with the guys and I'll see you back at your place later, OK? You can tell me about your grandfather."

"Thanks, Danno," he said knowing he was thanking his friend for much more than the opportunity to talk about a man he'd always admired and wished he'd known.

Danny clapped a hand to Steve's shoulder as he replied "Any time, my friend. Any time."

ooooooo

_The end._

**ooooooo**

**A/N: **Absolutely no disrespect was intended by the use of the real names of the men who were interred on their respective vessels. This story is dedicated to all those who served in WWII and especially to those who served in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

_**Thanks for reading!**_


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